Committee Profile - Graham McKenzie (Macca)
- Wednesday 18 October 2023
- Written by Rachel
Role: Assistant Chair of Static Display
I have grown up helping out at the Elmore Field Days for my whole life as my dad (Ivan McKenzie) was a founding member.
I used to collect bottles around the site, which we could cash in for 10 cents each. The collected bottles would go in a pile behind a tent/hut which we would then sneak around and steal so that we could hand them in again and earn more money!
I started actively helping when I was about 16 with parking and the general set up of the old site at Ayson’s reserve.
I also used to be a runner when the Tractor Pull was held as part of the Field Days. After the tractors had completed their pull, they would measure the length, write it on a piece of paper and hand it to the runners to run all the way down the other end to the person on the microphone to read the result out.
I have always loved helping out around the site, and over the years I have had many roles including drafting the emergency response plan, Safety Officer, Waste Coordinator, Crane and Forks, Internal and External Traffic Control and Parking. I have always enjoyed the more hands on roles the most, and like getting in the thick of things when Field Days time rolls around.
My wife Tina’s dad built the catering shed and GH pavilion, both structures that are still around onsite today, and I helped build the loading ramp at the current site.
One day I was at the ramp and heard a strange noise. I looked up and saw a little plane coming down to land right there on the taxi way. I wasn’t sure how that was going to go seeing as there was only the relatively short taxi way there for him to be able to come to a stop. Miraculously the plane landed safely and I went up to speak to the pilot who was from the bush. He said he thought it was a very short runway! I said, it's not the runway, it's just the taxi way!
I was also involved with planting most of the trees all around the site.
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